Caffeine Fiend
by TinySprite
Summary: Sigma 6 alternate universe. Just a fun one-shot in response to a twitter challenge.


TinySprite: (waves at screen) Hey! Bet all of you thought I disappeared! Well, I didn't and here I am! Anyway, this is just a random one-shot brought on by an odd conversation and an over-active mind. I'd forgotten about it until a fic challenge on Twitter reminded me of it. The challenge was basically to do an alternate universe in a reasonable manner. I'm pretty sure I failed the last part, but still, enjoy the fic! Disclaimer time!

(A light turns on, illuminating a sign someone taped to a wall)

**Disclaimer: **TinySprite owns nothing aside from the plot and some fan available merchandise. No profit is being made from this. She doesn't even have a life.

Tiny: Now onto the fi-WAIT A MINUTE! WHAT DOES THAT SIGN SAY?

Jynx: (to Kamakura) Told you she'd notice.

(-)

The room was dark save for one light coming from a single monitor amid a mass of them. Usually all of them would be on and running but at the moment, only one was on for whatever reason.

In the chair stationed before them, a person was slouched, his attention focused completely on the screen. Green eyes stared unblinkingly at the hypnotizing object, white teeth biting into his lower lip in concentration as his hands twitched almost sporadically on the keyboard.

The light reflected dully off a pair of headphones connected to the console and revealed the man was blonde. It also showed a gray hoodie and part of a pair of jeans. Some fast food wrappers could just be seen on the floor surrounding the chair, as well as a sizable amount of styrofoam coffee cups.

Suddenly leaning forward even more, the blonde's breathing seemed to stop as something demanded his complete and total attention. It picked up again once he dealt with the problem, an almost smirk coming onto his face. Finding a lag in the action, he reached over to grip a cup, only for his hand to hit empty air.

Suddenly frowning, the blonde spared a few precious seconds to glance over at the spot only to come face to face with a horrifying sight. Orange eyes burning with the fury of Hell itself glared at him from a lizard like face. Brown scale armor protected the face and extended backwards, but did nothing to hide the wickedly sharp teeth bristling from the mouth. A purple hide began at the throat and extended downward, most likely to the underbelly.

A pair of equally sharp pincers framed the jaw, seemingly placed only to increase the intimidation factor. The shadows of the room and the scant lighting only amplified the horror, especially as his mind recognized the creature. It opened it's mouth and exhaled sharply at him before rearing back, clearly ready to bite into his soft flesh. Letting out a very high pitched scream, the poor male threw himself sideways out of the chair and away from the creature.

As the headphone jack was popped out of the console due to this, various sounds of battle came forth including part of a phrase saying, "-ddtional pylons."

However, it did nothing to hide a sickening series of pops and small cracks, accompanied by laughter that was first harsh and guttural before becoming more of a higher pitch and overall human. Sudden rage coursed through his veins, prompting the male to scramble to his feet, swearing, "Damnit Tunnel Rat! Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

The blonde slapped his hand on the keyboard, pausing his game before locating the small remote to turn on the room's lights. Sure enough, in place of a terrifying creature sure to haunt his nightmares for the next week was a lanky redhead male smirking at him. Finishing his laughter, the other male just shook his head, still orange eyes focused on him, "Consider it payback for last week's fiasco. We're just about even now Hi-Tech."

Instead of arguing, Hi-Tech just hid a wince and backed down. Last week was...well, he still had a lot to make up for. Besides, if this was what Rat considered 'almost even', the geek didn't want to think what it would take to completely make it up in one go.

Glancing over the other showed Tunnel Rat was wearing a sleeve-less white shirt with tan pants and brown boots. No beanie today though, which caused his bangs to be in his face, creating an odd effect he couldn't describe. It was just...weird to see him with bangs. There were fresh holes in the shoulders of his shirt, no doubt caused by his brief partial transformation.

Accordingly, there was some blood on his shoulders and arms too, but Rat was already wiping that off with some spit and a swiped napkin, still snickering to himself at Hi-Tech's reaction. The blonde just knew he wasn't going to live this down for a long while. Noticing something running down Rat's cheek, Hi-Tech remembered the orange eyes and paled slightly. That part of turning back always grossed him out and he knew that his teammate knew it too.

Looking away from Tunnel Rat, the computer expert grabbed a couple of clean napkins off his desk and handed them over, "So, what did you want?"

The napkins were taken, but a reply wasn't given just yet. Instead, he was answered with a question, "Just how much coffee have you had today?"

Hi-Tech blinked in surprise, even more so when he realized he didn't know the answer to that, "I...I'm not sure really. I know I had a lot yesterday from the kitchen but today I...well, I've been making my own."

As if to confirm his answer, the coffee pot on the table against the wall parallel to his work area let out a hiss of steam. It was less than half full, surrounded by styrofoam cups (used and fresh) and an almost unbelievable number of creamer and sugar packets. There was also two small empty bags of coffee grounds and a third one still somewhat full next to an empty box of instant coffee packets.

Both of them stared at it, then together looked down at the floor only to see a near sea of used cups revealed in the full lighting. The occasional fast food bag could be seen further from the chair, but not as many as the cups. Sounding oddly impressed, the shape-shifter spoke again, "Let me rephrase that, when was the last time you actually slept?"

Hi-Tech blinked again, "Uh..."

Tunnel Rat shook his head, grabbing his teammate's elbow, "Well, that answers that. Come on."

About to drag Hi-Tech away from his lab, the slightly smaller male stopped and glanced around in seeming confusion, "Didn't you have a trash can in here?"

The geek gestured to a corner of the large room, towards the back where the clutter was more of the mechanical type, "It was back there last time I checked."

Clearly not about to deal with the mess, Tunnel Rat just grunted and proceeded to forcibly lead Hi-Tech out of the room, the threat of getting Heavy Duty being the only thing that kept the blonde from fighting too much. It didn't stop the longing glances thrown back at the console though. All he'd wanted to do today was play his new game in peace. This was his near-unheard of day off and it was being interrupted by some random thing that demanded his attention.

A sudden thought coming into his head made Hi-Tech frown sharply, "If the tv in the rec room isn't working, check the remote batteries or actually get up and turn it on manually for once."

Tunnel Rat snapped back at him, "That isn't the issue. THIS is the issue."

A series of bangs and clashes came to his attention first, right before he was shoved into one of the larger rooms of the underground base. At first Hi-Tech was confused, but then Rat oh so helpfully grabbed his chin and made him look upwards. There on the ceiling was Kamakura, crawling around like a spider. Jynx was hot on his tail, obviously intent on catching her fellow apprentice. Both were dressed in standard training clothes, but Jynx seemed oddly tired compared to Kamakura's apparently boundless energy.

Hi-Tech stared for a few minutes, still confused, before turning to look at his teammate, "You're showing me a training exercise?"

The shape-shifter frowned at him, "No, I'm showing you an out of control apprentice."

He still didn't get it, "How is this..."

The geek trailed off, not understanding what was happening. There was a sudden, sharp pain on the top of his head, making him yelp. Twisting around, he found Snake Eyes there with a still raised fist, body language clearly irritated. The silent commando moved on though, snapping his fingers to get the attention of his apprentices. Kamakura dropped off the ceiling to land before him, launching into a high-speed tirade of questions, all delivered in an overly chirpy and hyper voice.

Snake Eyes just made a slight motion to Jynx and they both pounced at the same time on Kamakura. The young man went down with a yelp but fought back, putting slight gouges in the metal floor while laughing loudly at the 'game'. Had the other two not been vampires themselves, there would have been actual cause for worry given Kamakura's state and almost reckless use of his abnormal strength. Hi-Tech stared, nearly startling as Tunnel Rat yawned, "Jynx said you let him have some blood this morning, after he dragged you out to get some breakfast yourself."

The blonde nodded and scratched at the bandage on the inside of his left elbow, hidden by the hoodie sleeve, remembering it well. It seemed like a simple request at the time, which Hi-Tech tried to explain, "He'd been complaining about cold blood packets and I owed him a favor, so I let him have some of mine. Just a half a cup though."

His teammate grunted, walking off to throw away the somewhat bloody napkins in the nearby garbage chute located on the wall right next to the hallway they'd come from. Hi-Tech still didn't see what the problem was though. Cold blood didn't entice a vampire's hunting instincts like how warm blood did, but a small amount of warm blood didn't bring about this kind of a reaction either. In fact...he didn't know of anything that would cause a vampire to act like an overgrown first grader. He grumbled, "Still don't see why I had to come here."

A hand clapped onto his shoulder, startling him into looking at Tunnel Rat, who'd returned without his notice. The redhead stifled a yawn and smiled almost condescendingly at him, "You see Hi-Tech, you're here because YOU GAVE KAMAKURA A FREAKING CAFFEINE BUZZ!"

Hi-Tech flinched back sharply at the yelling, just now realizing that Tunnel Rat wouldn't have gone to sleep yet (in fact, much like himself, he didn't know when the shape-shifter had last gone to bed) and therefore was highly irritable. What had gone on back in his private lab must have been to keep his guard down, aside from the scare of course. The blonde was shoved forward, Rat growling, "Now, he's your problem. Oh, and Duke's words, not mine, 'No recreational activities allowed until Kamakura is completely calm and that includes video games, movies, and inventing'. I'd wish you good luck but, eh."

With that parting shot, Tunnel Rat walked off with a shrug, most likely for a shower and sleep. Hi-Tech paled further as he realized what that meant. As far as he knew, vampires didn't get caffeine buzzes, but if he himself had had enough coffee in his bloodstream at that time, it could be technically possible...

Unable to help himself, the blonde tried to think of possible ways to recreate this and/or research this event. Looking over at the vampire trio, the geek was startled to see a pair of wide brown eyes staring right into his, a much too wide smile on the apprentice's face. Kamakura tilted his head and innocently asked, "Wanna play?"

Nothing sounded more terrifying to him at the moment, all thoughts of research long gone from his mind. Especially at the sight of a near murderous Jynx creeping up on them from behind Kamakura and he couldn't even see where Snake Eyes had gone. That..that was probably for the best, considering just what kind of trouble he himself was most likely in.

As Kamakura grabbed his arm and began to drag him around the room, going on and on about the fun they'd have, Hi-Tech could only whimper and think on how this just wasn't his month.

(-)

Tiny: There you have it! A completely random, AU fic!

Scarlett: You know over half of this isn't going to make sense to practically everyone else, right?

Tiny: (ignoring her) Feedback is appreciated! I'm probably going to expand this in a different story at a later date, so keep an eye out for it if you're interested.


End file.
